It seems, there is a sweet spot of how many people you want in your coffee shop. If it looks empty, potential customers off the street won't go in. That's the herd effect ("if there are so many people there, then it must be good").
However, if the coffee shop is full of people with laptops, not buying any drinks or food, then customers who walk in, hoping to get a coffee and a muffin, will walk out, because there are too many people there, and not enough seats.
The goal of the owners is to module the amount of people sitting in the coffee shop.
They (the owners) can setup a schedule to simply disallow wi-fi usage and turn the power off on some outlets during certain busy times of day (lunch for ex.) That is a little subversive because it will be perceived as a confrontation. The other way to do it, is to simply ask the patrons to purchase more food and indicate that the coffee shop is struggling financially. Being honest might work a lot better.
However, if the coffee shop is full of people with laptops, not buying any drinks or food, then customers who walk in, hoping to get a coffee and a muffin, will walk out, because there are too many people there, and not enough seats.
The goal of the owners is to module the amount of people sitting in the coffee shop.
They (the owners) can setup a schedule to simply disallow wi-fi usage and turn the power off on some outlets during certain busy times of day (lunch for ex.) That is a little subversive because it will be perceived as a confrontation. The other way to do it, is to simply ask the patrons to purchase more food and indicate that the coffee shop is struggling financially. Being honest might work a lot better.